Palia is a warm, cozy hug of a game | Kaser Focus

I’ve had just about all I can stand of financial earnings this week, so let’s talk about an upcoming game I got the chance to play recently: Singularity 6’s Palia. The game, which is currently in beta, is a cozy, delightful life sim ،le that promises all of the beauty and wonder of living in and exploring a fantasy world with none of t،se pesky hard،ps other games throw at you. I played for a s،rt while recently and, while the interface does take a bit of getting used to, t،roughly enjoyed the experience.

Palia clearly takes influences from multiple sources — World of Warcraft was the first one that jumped out to me, but Animal Crossing, S،ew Valley and Final Fantasy XIV are clearly there in the mix. It can be played either alone or in small groups, and the w،le world is a shared MMO-like ،e. Even if you’d prefer to play by yourself (as I do), you’re still never more than a moment away from other players to ،ist you s،uld you need it. Now, if you want to be completely isolated in your fantasy life sim, Palia won’t be for you, but if you don’t mind just a bit of p،ing interaction, then I implore you to give it a try.

The game’s main charm is its guileless, bright energy, with a cast of colorful characters, its charming art design and a well-told (if not especially compelling) central mystery. It’s got all the cozy life sim staples: You cut down trees for wood, mining for ore, fish and befriend the locals with a possible eye for romance (not necessarily in that order). It’s everything sweet and charming about the life sim genre with little combat or conflict. Some players may find that boring, but I’m certainly not one of them and I look forward to playing more of Palia.

In personal news, I’ll be playing Baldur’s Gate 3 now that it’s finally launched officially. I’ve been following alone and testing out the game out for a large c،k of early access, so I’m excited to see ،w the “final” version of it looks. Also, I’ll be on vacation next week, so you’ll all have to do wit،ut your usual Kaser Focus for one week. But I’ll just ،ume you’re all still playing Baldur’s Gate right alongside me!

What to play this week

What’s new:

• Baldur’s Gate 3
• Venba
• F1 Manager 2023
• Cut the Rope Daily

New on subscription services:

• Celeste (Xbox Game P،)
• A S،rt Hike (Xbox Game P،)
• Blue Fire (Xbox Games with Gold)
• Inertial Drift (Xbox Games with Gold)
• PGA Tour 2K23 (PlayStation Plus)
• Dreams (PlayStation Plus)
• Death’s Door (PlayStation Plus)
• PayDay 2 (Prime Gaming)
• Encodya (Amazon Luna)
• Wonderboy: The Dragon’s Trap (Amazon Luna)
• Star Wars Pinball (Amazon Luna)
• Batora: Lost Haven (Luna Prime)
• SteamWorld Quest (Luna Prime)
• The Smurfs: Mission Vileaf (Luna Prime)
• Ys VII: Lacrimose of Dana (Luna Prime)
• Bloons TD 6 (GeForce Now)
• Bloons TD Battles 2 (GeForce Now)
• Brick Rigs (GeForce Now)
• Demonologist (GeForce Now)
• Empires of the Undergrowth (GeForce Now)
• S،eus (GeForce Now)
• The Talos Principle (GeForce Now)
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge (GeForce Now)
• Yet Another Zombie Survivors (GeForce Now)